Specs One

The Long Awaited Mega EP

Released 2005

Here’s a rare vinyl pressing of Specswizard’s The Long Awaited Mega EP from 2005. It’s a sample-heavy release, but it’s all analog, with no computers or quantization, so everything’s a little squishy. This music swings. On the first side, “Unusual” breathes new life into a famous Tom Jones sample, while “Finer Things” samples a harpsichord from a Bach fugue, and then reverses it. The lyrics try to convince you that next year, when he’s finally “making all kinds of dough” that he’ll finally be that classy dude. It’s towards the end of this track, when Specs starts repeating “H2O” that you notice there’s a bit of Jenga happening: On the second side is a short track called “H2O,” and it’s a long roll-call of local 2005-era hip-hop greats: Jake One, Silver Shadow D, Wordsayer, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Nasty Nes and more. My fav track, “Concrete,” is also on side two. It’s a deceptively funky number, one that finds it’s head-bobbing grove after a short burn-in period. There’s also two instrumentals (of “Unusual” and “Concrete”) to close out the vinyl. They just don’t make ‘em like the used to.